So, that how the republicans are gonna play it. They will encourage the billionaires to hide behind the skirts of small business owners. Nice. I suppose they've changed their belief from "trickle down" to trickle on. The republicans have almost finished nailing the coffin lid shut for the middle class. They must be giddy at the prospect of finishing the job in the new term.

The biggest spending is being done in Afghanistan. Get out of Afghanistan and we will save billions. We are accomplishing nothing there except killing and maiming our young people. there never was a reason to go in there in the first place, and no reason to stay there now, except to supply employment to our troops. Let's use them to rebuild roads instead (like the WPA during the early 30's), construction instead of destruction will cost less in the end.

The government isn't a profit making mechanism/company...taxes are a redistribution of wealth. Governments are strictly non-profit and are there to ensure their is enough local capital circulating to ensure business have the customers to survive even in hard times like now.

no taxation without representation was the battle cry, it was never about no taxation period. The current mess is about how taxes are best used, collected and who is paying and who can afford to pay and why
Just ask yourself, what is fair about the current tax policies and you will realize that the largest percentage of taxes are collected through the middle class... whats so fair about that?... and how does burdening the middle class even more now help recirculate cash to keep the wheels of progress going?

WHY in GOD'S name would ANYONE, Republican or Democrat WANT to extend tax relief to those who DON'T need it? The wealthy always get the free ride while John Q. Public pays and pays and pays? Aside from the fact that it will do NOTHING but ADD to our already burgeoning deficit, WHAT is it's purpose? What kind of Patriots ARE these who would continue to strangle the lower and middle class American for the easement of the RICH? Their priorities are insane. They should get busy putting people back to WORK rebuilding our Country and making us independent from China and the rest of the Globe that we're currently indebted to. Is anybody listening?

Gotta hand it to the Rethuglicans when they say "no compromise. If Obama had taken the same approach for his stated goals when he became president, the country would be on the road to recovery. I imagine that the the White House chef knows how to prepare Meow Mix for him.

I gotta pile on here, if only to add that TPers are going to feel as much sting as the rest of us. That's right, odds are short they're going to be betrayed by the system and, more to the point, the billionaire-supported system they invested their time/money/votes to elect. How many of you TPers are making more than 250K? The billionaires are the ones who've got your money, who ripped off your family-supporting jobs. It ain't the immigrants, it ain't the civil pensioners, it ain't the welfare folks, it ain't the so-called liberal entitlements. That's all smokescreen and misdirection! Follow the money, it's all gone upstairs. You are destitute because the rich are much richer, much, much, richer, and they've become much richer by taking the money from YOU! And they did it through "smaller gov't", a gov't too small to stand up to the greedy demands of large corporations and the rich folks who can buy elections. Hell, they own the election machines! The one consolation is that the TPers and the willfully ignorant are going to suffer along with the rest of the non-elites. Small compensation...